Qualifications for a certificate as a certified public

accountant. A. An applicant for a certificate shall complete the application form provided by the board and demonstrate to the board's satisfaction that the applicant: (1) is of good moral character and lacks a history of dishonest or felonious acts; and (2) meets the education, accounting experience and examination requirements of the board. B. The board may refuse to grant a certificate on the ground that the applicant failed to satisfy the requirement of good moral character. C. The education requirement for examination shall be: (1) a baccalaureate degree or its equivalent from a college or university acceptable to the board plus completion of an additional thirty semester hours of higher education in accounting or business; (2) a baccalaureate degree from a college or university acceptable to the board with a concentration in accounting or business; or (3) a master's degree from a college or university acceptable to the board with a concentration in accounting or business. D. The education and accounting experience requirement for a certificate shall be: (1) a baccalaureate degree or its equivalent from a college or university acceptable to the board plus completion of an additional thirty semester hours of higher education in accounting or business and evidence of at least one year of accounting experience; (2) a baccalaureate degree from a college or university acceptable to the board with a concentration in accounting or business and evidence of at least two years of accounting experience; or (3) a master's degree from a college or university acceptable to the board with a concentration in accounting or business and evidence of at least one year of accounting experience. E. The examination for certification shall be offered continuously via a computer- based testing system at a designated testing center and shall test an applicant's knowledge of the subjects of accounting and auditing and other related subjects as prescribed by the board. The board shall prescribe the method of applying for the examination and the dissemination of scores, and it shall rely on the American institute of certified public accountants for the grading of the examination. The board may use all or any part of the uniform certified public accountant examination services of the national association of state boards of accountancy to perform administrative services with respect to the examination. The board or its designee shall report all eligibility and score data to the national candidate database, and it shall, to the extent possible, provide that the passing scores are uniform with passing scores of other states. F. An applicant must pass all sections of the examination to qualify for a certificate. A passing scaled score for each section shall be seventy-five percent. Sections may be taken individually and in any order. Credit for any section passed shall be valid for thirty months from the date the passing score is released to the applicant, without having to attain a minimum score on any failed test section and without regard to whether the applicant has taken other test sections. An applicant must pass all four test sections within a continuous thirty-month period, which begins on the date that the first passing scores are released to the applicant. If all four test sections are not passed within the continuous thirty-month period, credit for any test section passed outside the thirty- month period will expire, and that test section must be retaken. G. An applicant shall be given credit for examination sections passed in another state if such credit would have been given in New Mexico. H. The board may waive or defer requirements of this section regarding the circumstances in which sections of the examination must be passed, upon a showing that, by reason of circumstances beyond the applicant's control, the applicant was unable to meet the requirement.